title: Emergence and properties of spice and bath salts: a medicinal chemistry perspective.
abstract: Over the past five years the number of internet sites advertising "legal highs" has literally exploded, as have user reports of experiences (both pleasurable and frightening) with these substances and the number of emergency room visits by users. Although the majority of these "legal highs" have been described as bath salts and herbal extracts, most contain neither plant derived compounds nor components of personal hygiene products. So-called "bath salts" largely contain synthetic analogs of the natural compound Khat; spice-related materials, claimed to be "legal marijuana," are mostly synthetic analogs of cannabinoid receptor ligands that were developed as research tools. This review describes the emergence and properties of these two groups of "legal highs" from a medicinal chemist's perspective.
authors.affiliation: Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Electronic address: ahl@rti.org.
authors.forename: Anita H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.affiliation: Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Electronic address: hhs@rti.org.
authors.forename: Herbert H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Seltzman
authors.affiliation: Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
authors.forename: F Ivy
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.affiliation: Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
authors.forename: S Wayne
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Mascarella
authors.affiliation: Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
authors.forename: P Anantha
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Reddy
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D029754:Catha / Q000737:chemistry; D015198:Designer Drugs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020407:Internet; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D002186:Cannabinoids; D015198:Designer Drugs; D013287:Illicit Drugs; C023665:cathinone
keywords: 5HT; CB1; CB2; Cathinone; DAT; JWH; NET; Releaser; SERT; TAAR1